Our Adventure to Costa Rica

We cannot detail our adventure without a brief prologue…Our adventure was to begin on August 19th. We did everything right and had perfect instructions for our journey. Step 1 was to go to the Banco National and pay the exit tax. Due to past corruption in the government here, these taxes are paid directly to the government bank account and you take the receipt to Adunas (Customs). There they process paperwork to allow you to drive your personal vehicle across the border. We paid the .50 cent exit tax a couple of days before and made multiple copies of every document that would be required. We left early and drove just over 6 hours to David where we would go to Aduanas for the document needed to cross into Costa Rica. We waited for an agent to come back from lunch and were told that due to a computer problem we would have to come back in 5 days. With no other option we turned around and went back home. Investigation told us that the only other Adunas office is in Panama City so we made the decision to go there to get the document before driving back to the border. This would delay our trip to the first of September due to other things on our schedule.

We are often asked what we do to stay busy during retirement. To be honest, we never have trouble staying busy. We are active in our church, do some volunteer work, relax at the pool, read, and spend time with friends. One of our volunteer opportunities is with the local health and respite (hospice), and they do a lot of other stuff, including sponsoring blood drives. Our misfortune at the border allowed us to donate blood on Tuesday. Panamanian people are afraid to donate blood so the donors are very much appreciated here. We both donated and were in agreement that it was one of the most pleasant donation experiences either of us has ever had.

On Wednesday we took the bus into the city to straighten out our problem with Adunas. They collected all our documents (copies) and told us to come back on Friday. We have limited communication skills, but we were being told that the new computer system did not migrate all the vehicles registered and ours was not in the system. Everything would be fixed by Friday. On Friday we returned to find that the problem remained. We friended a man in line with a similar problem. Fortunately he was fluent in Spanish and English, and he helped us to get through the process. They had to do a hand search for our vehicle record to authorize us to take it across the border. They asked us to return in two hours.  It was a monumental accomplishment when we  returned to find they were going to issue the document.

On September 1st we took off on our Costa Rica adventure again. We were able to pass through the border, but I must say that it is much harder to travel from country to country here than it is to cross into the United States. Here they want to make sure you will not be staying for more than a visit. It is the legal process. We do not recommend travel like this without good instruction. We had good instruction including multiple copies of numerous documents, and a specific order to do each task. We do not know which was worse, going to Costa Rica or returning to Panama. Both border crossings were stressful, but not impossible. We both agree that it was worth the trouble, and will likely return for another visit in the future.

One of the reasons we selected Panama as our retirement home is they use U.S. currency. One thing we recommend when traveling is to get some foreign currency in advance. This was our first mistake. While at the border we were required to purchase Costa Rican car insurance. Using U.S. dollars, we think, caused us to pay a premium for this insurance. On our travel day (Sunday) no banks were open for the exchange of money. We usually pay for most things with a no foreign transaction fee bankcard, and that worked well for us until we were able to obtain Colonies (Costa Rican dollars). With Colonies in hand we were able to enjoy the roadside diners (Soda) we love, as well as make small purchases. At the end of our adventure we returned with just over $100 USD worth of Colonies.

The other thing we returned with is Momanes. Momanes are a Central American fruit that we are calling “hairy balls” because they have an appearance like, well you know. They really are yummy. When you peal away the skin they look and taste like a big white grape. They have a pit in the center, which you do not eat.

Our first stop in Costa Rica was a wonderful port town called Quepos. We did not want to drive after dark and this was a perfect place to spend the night. We had a great meal and outstanding service at an oceanfront hotel. While we had dinner we enjoyed a spectacular sunset. Our plan for morning was to wait until the bank opened, to exchange cash. This allowed us to wander about on the boardwalk and enjoy a great breakfast. When the bank opened at 9 a.m. we discovered a long line because of 1st of the month payday. Rather than endure the line we elected to continue on our adventure with no Colonies. This was not a problem. We stopped at a wonderful restaurant along the road that accepted our card, and paid a toll with a US Dollar (it was about .35 cents).

We were once again on the road to Surfside. Our good friends own a home there and we will stay with them for a few days to explore the Gold Coast beaches. The journey was another 6 hours on roads that appeared to be carved right out of the jungle rain forest. We spent most of the ride in awe of the beauty of the country. Much of the ride was along the Pacific Coast with small beachfront towns along the way. The roads, even the Pan-American Highway, were primarily two lane and paved. They were also mostly in good repair. We were able to use the Wayz app on our phones, and it worked flawlessly. Forgive us for not taking pictures along the journey. We found that often there were limited space to pull off the road for photo opportunities. The pictures below are from a stop along the coast at a small town called Jaco.

We arrived mid afternoon at our friends, John and Barbie’s home. Their home is located in a beachfront community near the town of Potrero. We noticed that there are many expats living and vacationing in these areas. The locals are much better at speaking English than in most of Panama. But, like anywhere in Central America a little Spanish goes a long way. The restaurants, bars, and breakfast sodas were numerous and most seemed to be doing well even in the slow season.  Over the next few days we enjoyed exploring the area. John and Barbie took us to an upscale condo project called Las Catalinas, which was like walking into a movie set in Italy. It was very beautiful and quiet. We took about 100 pictures but will only share a few. These homes here were in the million USD range.

We also explored numerous beaches. Playa Penca was incredibly beautiful and deserted. There was a road adjacent to the beach and we followed it to the end. I promised an end of the road story and this is it. It was somewhat anti-climatic but it was, no doubt, another in what we hope will be  a long lasting theme to our end of the road stories.

John and Barbie took us to several great beaches. Some were literally deserted, while others had a lot of people around. The beach at Witches Rock in Tamarindo was a surfers paradise. There were surfers around waiting for high tide, when they would take a lesson or hit the surf. We enjoyed a great lunch on the beach and browsed through some of the great shops.

After visiting Tamarindo we went to an amazing pool at Mar Vista for an afternoon of relaxing and swimming. This infinity pool is separated from the ocean by jungle and rain forest, but when you were swimming in it you could enjoy the awesome ocean vista.

Along the way we spotted this very colorful and handsome iguana. He was not shy and we got a great picture of him to share.

We could not get over the fabulous restaurants in the area around our friends home. The last night at their home we went to Vaca Loca. Translated Vaca Loca means crazy cow. We came to the conclusion that the proprietor was the crazy one. We were served ribeye steaks, that weighed out at over a pound, with appetizers, one side, and a shot of limoncello to finish for about $12 USD each. It was beyond delicious and perfectly cooked. The truth be known, our friend John is an expert at finding great restaurants that will not break the budget. Most of the restaurants in Costa Rica, with the exception of the sodas, are very expensive. This reality was another strong argument for our decision to retire in Panama. We enjoy eating out and having economical restaurant selections is important to us.

The following morning we embarked on our journey to the mountain town of Tilaran.  On our journey we made a special stop at Walmart. Walmart in Costa Rica is a high end department store and we found the prices to be high compared to the States. We did pick up a few snacks and soft drinks for the road. We also got a few things that have been difficult to find in Panama.

From there we traveled on to Lake Arenal and the pinnacle of our trip, a visit to Lake Arenal and the Arenal Volcano. We stayed in a great casita with a full kitchen and an awesome view of Lake Arenal for $50 USD per night. Our friends John and Barbie stayed with a friend down the road a bit. The lake is about 26 miles long and we were on the west end of it. The volcano and the small town of Arenal were about an hour drive away on the east end of the lake.  Our plan was to go to the volcano, hot springs and explore on Saturday. We will head back to Panama on Sunday. The pictures below are near where we stayed. The weather was perfect when we reached our temporary home on Lake Arenal.

On Saturday morning we woke up to torrential rain. It is rainy season and we were deep in the mountains and rain forest. Determined not to let the weather affect our plans, we took off bright and early prepared for whatever mother nature dealt us. We drove to the volcano and the small town of Arenal. To make a long story short we did not get to explore because the rain did not stop. We, also opted against the hot springs as it would not be great in the rain. We shopped around the town a bit and took a few pictures before returning to our temporary home at the other end of the lake.

For the rest of the day we enjoyed meeting some of John and Barbie’s friends and a couple of other great restaurants. Our farewell dinner was at Moyas and it was another awesome experience.

Sunday morning we got up for our journey home to Panama. On the way out of the mountains we stopped for what turned out to be an awesome photo opportunity. We took a picture of the Arnal Volcano with a cloud over the top resembling a hat. The rest of our journey was more beautiful countryside and we thoroughly enjoyed the drive.

We both agree that the experience of driving through Costa Rica was memorable and we will likely make another trip to fully enjoy the mountain experience. The beaches were great, but we have great beaches right here at home.

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Blessings,

Greg and Jen